Dec 31 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom gas export monopoly said on Wednesday its engineers were starting preparations for a Jan. 1 cut-off of gas to Ukraine that could have a knock-on effect on supplies to Europe.
Russia had for years sold energy to its neighbours at discount prices — a legacy from the Soviet Union.
Moscow has in recent years raised these prices to reach European market levels and the exact level of prices as well as debts to Russia resulting from steep hikes are the subject of frequent disputes.
The following is a chronology of the most serious of gas rows that Russia has had with its ex-Soviet neighbours.
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WINTER 2005-2006.
Russia and Ukraine clashed on prices for the first time seriously following the 2004 pro-Western “Orange Revolution” which swept to power President Viktor Yushchenko, who has tried to detach Ukraine from Russia’s sphere of influence.
A dispute over gas prices — Ukraine then paid just $50 per 1,000 cubic metres, Gazprom wanted to charge $230 — was aggravated by a year of government under Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko who fiercely criticised the energy sector as corrupt.
Gazprom cut off supplies on Jan. 1 2006, but turned them back a day later. European consumers complained their supplies had been hit as Gazprom accused Ukraine of stealing gas from export pipelines and Kiev denied any such move.
Ukraine agreed to a price of $95 per tcm and the introduction of intermediary RosUkrEnergo, which soon became a source of conflict over future gas agreements.
WINTER 2006-2007
Belarus fought hard to keep Russian gas prices down. Minsk and Moscow came to an agreement just half an hour before a midnight deadline to cut supplies off. Belarus agreed to a doubled price of $100 per tcm.
The dispute, however, escalated in the first days of 2007 and briefly affected Russian oil supplies to Poland and Germany along the Druzhba pipeline following a clash over oil duties and supplies between Moscow and Minsk.
FEBRUARY 2007
Ukraine’s parliament passed a law that banned the privatisation, sale or lease of the country’s gas pipelines, after Russian suggestions of creating a joint venture to run the system.
FEBRUARY 2008
Gazprom said Ukraine had accumulated over $1.5 billion in debts for supplies in 2007, when it was paying $130 per tcm, and after weeks of talks and contradictory statements from both sides, it halved supplies briefly at the beginning of March.
Supplies were resumed after Naftogaz agreed to pay back the debt but analysts predicted tough talks over next year’s supply deal and the question of intermediary RosUkrEnergo, which Tymoshenko wants abolished as the intermediary supplier.
In October, Tymoshenko and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a memorandum that stipulated Ukraine would pay a market price within three years after gradual rises and that supply intermediaries like RosUkrEnergo would be scrapped.
